Strength and Surviva

NEAR-DEATHEXPERIENCEFORVENEZUELANGIRL

With blood streaming down herface,sophomore Maria Feijoo stood up and yelled, "Who hit me?"

At theage of12, she and some friendswere inthecourtyard ofa building playingwith fireworks inher home country, Venezuela Aftera round offireworkswent off,sheran from them,satdown and covered herears

"Iheard avoice tell me what to do," Feijoo said The voice told hertoget up and turn around While doing so,astrong force hitherchin causing hertobleed

A bodyguard ofVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez thought Feijoo and her friends were too loud and fired a warning shotthey never heard because ofthefireworks The second shot —aimed atthe back ofher head — was intended to kill Feijoo Because she turned her head, thebullet went through thetop ofherchin, out the bottom, through hershoulder and then intoherarm Instead of breaking herarm bone,the bulletsplitin half Being shot wasn'tthe only hardship she encountered during heryouth.Feijoostruggled with several thingsgrowing up which caused her to become angry with God.She was losingher hearing in one earand hergrandfather died the day before her15th birthday — orquinceahera — an important time inagirl's life inSpanishculture

When she was 16,Feijoo became a Christianwhile inKentucky asan exchange student "The same voicewas talking to me,"Feijoosaid. She felt the voicetellinghertoget baptized atachurchthere

As time went on, Feijoosaid, "Istopped blaming God foreverything that happened to me."

Returning toVenezuela a Christian, herCatholic family and friendslooked down on her Feijoo said, "My mom took my Bibleand started torip it."

Despite the difficultiesshe faced, Feijoo said, "Ijustkeep showing them who I am and the change God has made inmylife."

Feijoo'sSpiritualLifeDirector, Danielle Napieralski, said, "Maria leavesa big impact wherever she goes, so itisonly naturalthatthe girls on our hall[loveher] Maria isa verygiving person and has encouraged me so much as well."

Determined tofollow God through everything, she said, "Iwillleaveeverything justfor Christ. I justwant to live the life that He wants me to live."

TiIR B BRI IKEMCDI WlI! WDi HARI1 G055

In1999,Hugo Chavez took officeas the president ofVenezuela In Chavez the people saw an opportunity fora new beginning and the chance to break |jfreefrom corrupt politicians.However, once inoffice, Chavez threatened newspapers and TV networks with S'| closure, attacked the Catholic Church, \ik\ fired federaljudges,handpickmg their replacements, and was involved in a variety ofother scandals.Hisdesire was toinstallhimselfas thedictator. modeling after Cuba's FidelCastro Chavez granted himselfmore power through taking control ofasocial ;' investment forexcess resources from *J state-run enterprises.He increased •iS* a|; statecontrol offood production and •J commerce,and punished business 'owners who failed tocomply with pricecontrolsand regulations He also '• received the power to take possession ofgoods from privatebusiness owners without theapproval from the National Assembly The Chavez government was supported tocreate a socialist-style I economy atthe community level

FITVON a as headmonished

•n Washington, DC,ayoung Ameri c On Pennsylvania Avenue ,n Wa * ^ ^ ^ ^ an d mother stood balancing awide ey g lQve ,ife.

::r; a d e S i 9 n* - h an d -d of w whomheld ^ ^ Studentsfrom ourcampus,manv ^ b y A force of theirown, smiled at thes, as « ,fd s the y disappearedinto the th ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

.Jo gathered,nDC *£» ^ Q {Ro e vWad e, the Hel d each year ontheann ^ ^ tne ^ u. s.supreme Court "^^ ^ W ho^hed to Marc h forLifeattracted P ^ ^ leade rs brin8 therighttolife message t ^ ^ tQ a crow d ^ f

,:think thattoday ^^ ^ present, 'Hey, our believers onpro-life, buttoteUou ^* , said v 0 cesneed tobeheard too Ham* . ^ ^ wa(k s

Decked in coats, hatsandg ^ ^ ^ welcom ed of life gathered in acitythattwo g ^ a multitudethatc**^ ^ forthemarch, too, president 'nau^ ^ chang e thatwouid stop X wa nted change Vet **» ^ jnfants

Killingofanestimated 3^000 ^ ^ Luk e

Robinson ot t-reu

•On tne US. SoP<e™c»eK„t,,at applies " ,h°S: Is I,«, « « need .» ^e =» . __ me , todaybecausei .„ and a Haassaid Itreai y tal ,

«e,en< people ,«9 « ^ been kll,ed since «» °

,1 ' ^ '--I

Mark Phillipsand Maria Weisz were not the is there for the good and the bad, and only ones to enjoy engagement while in everything inbetween Although difficult, school "I could not imagine persevering my relationship has elevated my GPA, focus through the trialsand tribulations of and potential for a brighter future.School academia without the support of my is tough;relationships are harder;but love fiancee,"said Brett Gates, senior "A fiancee never fails PI II fTOBS 5ABREIIA

Embracing in a field, juniorJacob Clee and seniorAlysha Orme anticiaptetheir wedding day "Jacob and I are high school sweethearts and he told hisdad when we were eleven yearsold, as I was walking across ourchurch parking lot, that I was the girlhe was going to marry Inplanning the wedding,we have triedto not get caught up inthe 'day' but in our marriage," Orme said "Jacob proposed when we werein Rhode Island forour friendswedding He had packed a picnicforme and took me out toa rock on the ocean and popped the question."FH

1T1 IBYBRETT.HASTIE

Couples likeNathan Taylor and Rebekah trusting that he'llcontinue to provide,"said Stumberg pictured here didn't cut Casey Johnson "We both have part-time costs likeengagement photos despite a jobs right now and that's barely enough struggling economy. "One of the ways that for us to get by on when we get married. both of us are having to trust God is that but we're hoping for full-timejobs."11 li Ti i the economy seems to be tanking and HASTE nobody seems to be hiring so we'rejust

•Ju*%

•&f /

Beams look past the wedding and to the long term commitment that it stands for "The wedding is not the fairytale,"said Erica Waddle, senior "The marriage is." PH01 I i

Most girlsonly dreamt ofthe kind of nightsenior Katie Morrow experienced on October 12.She and her boyfriend, alumnus Adam Miller, celebrated their two-year dating anniversary inan unforgettable way.What started out as a nightofmemories quickly became a moment thatchanged theirlives forever.

With a little help from the Chancellor's wife, Becki Falwell, Millertook Morrow back tothe siteoftheirfirstdate—the roofof DeMoss Hall—complete with sparkling lightsand a table setfor two

The words "Happy Two Year Anniversary" were projected on a nearby wallfollowing a video thatdepicted their lasttwo years together. Then he asked her to dance "As we were dancing,I could feel hisheart beating so fast,"Morrow said

When the song ended,Millerread a letterhe had writtentohisfuturewifeatthe age of15 He then got down on one knee and asked Morrow tomarry him.With tears streaming down herface, she saidyes.

Perfect proposals aside, balancing marriage, work and school was the realityforsome couples who chose toget married whilestill incollege

Freshman Albert Garcia and sophomore Melissa Brown got engaged four months afterthey met Students like Garcia and Brown often feltsociety'spush todelay marriage "People say, 'You'rerushing things It's too quick,'"Brown said

Junior Rachel Dunham, engaged tojuniorCraig Cooper, feltpressured by otherstoenjoy singlenessand see theworld before settling down.

She disagreed "You must decide which one you love the most.I'drather be with that special person than travel the world alone,"Dunham said

STORY CONTINUED ON PG. 138

After a politically charged summer,the fall came with a flurryof historicalannouncements and Lynchburg became a hotspot for politicalaction

Out ofthe blue,the Obama campaign announced alast minute stop inLynchburg The lineof people waiting toenter E.C Glass High School circled around the block and the presence ofsome faculty members and a good amount of students was evidence that the campus was dominantly, though not exclusively, Republican.Obama's visitwas an indication of things tocome as Virginia became a battleground state throughout the next few outside donors sponsored a group of students to attend the Republican National Convention Reporters and photographers swarmed the group from Lynchburg,plying the Christian college students with questionslike "What does itmean to be a young conservative?"

Sophomore Jared Smithillustrates the state oftheeconomy as many are being laidofffrom theirjobs Junior Ben Taylor,majoring in advertising and graphic design said,"I'm worried that my career field is getting increasingly competitive I feel like a lotofwhite collarjobs willbe effected, and I should have a back up plan